Heel-nail.



PATENTED MAR. 31, 1903. v

H. BRIGGS;

HEEL NAIL.

Arrmcn'ron FILED ran. 1, 1902.

no MODEL.

I 4 I J 2 & J0 i0 1 j] 1 12 12 t9 9 I I 2 h .6

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

HENRY BRIGGS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

HEEL-NAIL.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No."723,819, dated March 31, 1903.

Application filedI'ebruary 1, 1902. Serial No. 92,212. (No model T0 utZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I,HENRY BRIGGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heel-Nails; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and vexact'description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to an im-' proved heel-nail for use in the manufacture of boots and shoes.

Heretofore it has been customary in the manufacture of heel-nails to cut them from a strip of metal of uniform thickness, the line of out being transverse to the strip and inclined first in one direction and then in the other with relation to the strip,so that the nails taper from head to point. The nails, however, ordinarily had no heads, properly so called,the tapered sides extending to the head end, nor did the nails commonly have any clenching-point, the tapered sides extending directly to the point end of the nail. The converging sides of these nails had cut surfaces, the inclination of which to the axis of the nail was not always uniform, so that in driving the nail, the inclinations of its sides being liable to be different, the nail would not always drive straight, with the consequent imperfection of the product.

One of the objects of my invention is to produce an improved heel-nail which will drive straight in heel-nailing machines, and others are to improve the construction of the top-lift-holding head and clenching-point of such nails.

To the above end the present invention consists in the nail or nail strip hereinafter described, and particularly defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the preferred form of my invention upon an enlarged scale, Figure 1 is a plan, and Fig. 2 a section, of the nail-strip from which my improved nail is made; and Fig. 3 is aplan, and Fig. 4 a side elevation, of my improved nail made from the strip.

I prefer to make my improved nail from a nail-strip 1, the body of which converges from the head end '2 to the point end 3. (See Fig.

2 The head end of the strip is provided with a rolled head 4, the sides 5 of which symmetrically diverge from the end to the head end of the body, meeting the diverging sides of the body at salient angles to form shoulders. The point end of thisstrip is provided with a clenching-point 6, similar in shape to the head, but smaller. This strip is formed by rolling strips of metal through suitably-shaped rolls. From this strip the nails 7 are cut by shearing oif proper parallel widths of the strip. The nail thus produced (see Figs. 3 and 4) is rectangular in cross-section. Its body has two parallel sides 8-and two converging sides 9, the converging sides being rolled. The head 10 of the nail is also rectangular in cross-section, and its upper end is blunt, so as not to be distorted by the driving-pressure. head are parallel and lie in the planes of the parallel sides 8 of the body of the nail, and two of whose sides 12 symmetrically diverge from the end of the head end of the body,

meeting the sides 9 of the body at salient angles to form shoulders. These latter-named sides of the head are rolled surfaces. The point 13 of the nail is similar in shape to the head, but smaller.

By making the converging sides of the nail with rolled surfaces they are exactly regular and conduce to the straight driving of the nail. The diverging sides of the head of the nail being rolled the fiber of the metal is compacted and compressed and rendered more tough, whereby it is enabled to stand the blowof the hammer or driver of a nailingmachine without serious distortion. The clenching-point of the nail being reduced in thickness accurately determines the place at which the nail will begin to bend when it strikes the bottom plate of the last in the boot 'or shoe, and the diverging sides of the point being rolled the form of the point is accucurately determined, and the fiber of the metal is compacted and solidified, softhat the nail will have an accurate symmetrical, point to insure its straight driving through the body of the heel.

I am aware that clenching-nails have been made provided with a reduced clenchingpoint; but such nails, so far as I am advised of the state of the art, had a point which was 7o Two of the sides 11 of the and which was therefore devoid of a rolled and compacted surface which would accurately determine its shape.

I am aware t at heelnails have been made in which'the top-lift-holding head tapered from the upper end of the head toward the head end of the body of the nail and in which the head was separated from the body by a reduced neck; but my invention is clearly differentiated therefrom by the fact that the head of my nail tapers upward from the body of the nail, whereby there is no reduced neck between the body of the nail and the head. This is an important feature of my invention, as by virtue of this construction the head receives and transmits the nail-driving blow to the nail without distortion and the nail-head wedges itself into the top lift when thelatter is spanked thereon and obtains a good hold in the leather, so that the top lift is securely affixed to the heel.

Vhile my improved nail may be used in the hand manufacture of shoes, it is especially adapted for use in heel-nailing machines. In the hand manufacture of shoes the workman can see the nail that he is driving and notice before driving it Whether it has a symmetrical point or not, and it not he can so direct its course into the heel that it shall travel straight through it, whereas in theheel-nailingmachine,thenailbeing hidden from the operator and in some machines supplied by automatic devices,it is especially important that the nails should be exactly similar and uniform. Furthermore, irregular or defective nails are liable to clog in a heelnailing machine, and it is especially important for this reason the nails should be perfect and all exactly alike.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. The herein-described article of manufactureconsistingofaheel-nail havingabody, and ahead tapered upwardly from the upper end of the body and having a blunt upper end, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described article of manufacture consisting of a heel-nail having a body tapered from head end to point end, and a head tapered in the opposite direction from the upper end of the body, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described article of manufacture consisting ofaheel-nail havingabody, a head tapered upwardly from the upperend of the body, said head being smaller at its base than the nail-body, and a clenchingpoint similar in shape to the head butsmaller, substantially as described.

4. The herein-described article of manufacture consisting of a heel-nail having a body tapered from head end to point end, a head tapered in the opposite direction from the upper end of the body, and a reduced relatively short clenchingpoint, substantially as described.

5. The herein-described article of manufacture consisting of a cut heel-nail having a body rectangular in cross-section, and a head tapered upwardly from the upper end of the body, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY BRIGGS.

lVitnesses:

HORACE VAN EVEREN, BENJAMIN PHILIPS. 

